Richard Holbrook, who possesses one of the finest legit-styled voices in cabaret, performed his third annual Christmas show at Don’t Tell Mama on December 3 and 7th. Yuletide Magic, well directed by Richard Barclay, featured delightful swing/jazz arrangements of 18 songs, some of them quite unusual. Supported by the Tom Nelson Trio (Music Director Tom Nelson, bassist Michael Max Fleming, and drummer Peter Grant,) the opening jumped from "Happy Holidays" to Kay Thompson’s hip "It’s the Holiday Season" to a beautiful ballad, "Christmas Mem’ries" by Don Costa and Marilyn & Alan Bergman.

A Sammy Cahn medley began with the title song from the musical TV show Our Town and the movie Pocketful of Miracles, both with music by James Van Heusen, included two well-known Jule Styne standards, "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow" and "Christmas Waltz," and Burton Lane’s "A Christmas-y Day." Holbrook’s last show, Richard Sings Burton, was a Lane tribute. Fun was Holbrook singing Portia Nelson’s wry "Confessions of a New Yorker (Hate-Love New York)." Holbrook sang it muscally and melodiously, a wonderful contrast to the well-remembered spoke-sung version Nelson performed.

Holbrook gifted us singing hip holiday lyrics by both Johnny Mercer and Mel Tormé to the old standard "Glow Worm." The second holiday group of songs were big band sounding arrangements of "It Happened in Sun Valley" (Harry Warren-Mack Gordon), "Sleigh Ride" (Leroy Anderson/Mitchell Parish) and a rocking "Cool Yule," Louis Armstrong’s novelty Santa song (written by Steve Allen). Holbrook also emotionally sang two more of the Bergmans exquisite ballads: "A Christmas Love Song" by Johnny Mandel and ‘Something New in My Life" by Michel Legrand, and then another song by Tormé, "Christmas Was Made for Children."

Holbrook introduced a trio of rare Burton Lane Christmas songs with three different lyricists: Yip Harburg ("Who Says There Ain’t No Santa Claus ?"-1957), Ervin Drake ("And Suddenly It’s Christmas"-1988) and Dorothy Fields ("Let’s Make It Christmas All Year Round"-1957). More familiar were swinging versions of "Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town," "Winter Weather" (music and lyrics by Ted Shapiro) and "Winter Wonderland."

Holbrook closed with a sincere "The Christmas Song" (Tormé & Robert Wells) and "It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (Eddie Pola and George Wyle), inviting the audience—which included Erwin and Edith Drake and Lynn Lane, Burton Lane’s widow—to sing along with him and Nelson’s great trio. Richard Holbrook’s special arrangements and strong personable singing made this a very festive show!

Joe Regan, Jr.
Cabaret Scenes
December 7, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org